Mishandling circumstances with board members or bosses can have career-limiting consequences. Misunderstandings with clients and customers can result in lost revenue. Failing to decipher political dynamics occurring among peers can create silos. Regardless of who the stakeholders are, some relational miscues are costly. How well do you recognize stakeholder perspectives while communicating your own? As [...]
When you hear the term "political behavior," what happens? Maybe you cringe as you think of the antics of candidates during an election campaign. Perhaps you get a bad taste in your mouth as you recall questionable actions of corporate colleagues. Most of us have witnessed one form of political behavior that leaves a negative [...]
If your company doesn’t already have a chief data officer (CDO), there is a good chance it could be a topic of discussion. Why? According to Gartner, the office of the CDO will be a crucial function similar to IT, finance, HR and business operations in 75% of large companies by 2021. Although the CDO [...]
You have probably heard colleagues make comments about the executive presence of certain leaders. If so, take a minute to think about whether your colleagues are truly on target. The term executive presence is tossed around quite a bit regarding someone’s positive impact in meetings and other business situations. It is misleading. Why? From my [...]
How can you reduce employee churn in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) organizations that costs billions of dollars? Consider leadership finesse. In my last article, I alluded to leadership finesse and how it helps create motivating work environments where STEM-skilled employees thrive and want to stay. In this follow-up article, I expand on STEM organizations [...]
“We are an executive team in name only.” “We are all senior leaders at the same company, we participate in the same meetings, but we do not collaborate well as a unit.” “We have no common objective and struggle with accountability.” In my work, I regularly hear senior leadership at organizations make these comments. If [...]
The victim mindset can affect average and high performers in any organization in any industry. Ultimately, it can impact the bottom line when it is not managed. In part one of this series, I addressed the first form of the victim mindset I have dealt with across 20 industries: the doubtful victim. In this second and final [...]
Have you ever encountered a “victim mindset” in your day-to-day work? Chances are that you have. Whether you find it at the executive or middle-management level, most of us have worked with someone (or possibly multiple people) who personifies this mindset. Your challenge as a leader is figuring out how to handle it. In order [...]
“The timing of the product launch was poor. I told my team it should not be done that month,” stated Brad (the division president). “Brad, don’t you lead that division? Based on what you just said in the last few minutes, there were at least two important factors for the product that were not considered. [...]
“You have to learn to manage up better.” Perhaps someone has said this to you or a colleague. To manage up, you need to be strategic in how you handle work relationships with your boss and individuals higher on the company ladder that possess more power than you. When you manage up with leaders, the [...]